Caltex Servo was the orientation once on East Coast Road.
An Esso had been passed
earlier.... Could the chap have confused his brands?....
No, it was the Caltex, just beyond Telok Kurau Road. SmartMart attached and tyres the other side. Over four and one half years not driving a short snort of righteous disgust: cars, petrol, highways, speed. On the walk back to a bus-stop a couple of cars outside the Servo honked Indian workers on the roadway. Road had been narrowed, chaps hauling tubing given warning BEEP BEEP BEEP to stand clear. Grrrh!
A selling point of the room was the "Expat location", for a prospective expat tenant just the thing. There was no con: cafes, bars, bakeries and the rest, one every fifty metres, no-one could complain. A working day there were no expats visible on the street, or only a couple. Hipster Chin girls, maids, old aunties and uncles.
Redeeming feature was an old, weathered and discoloured block belying the fancy title it bore: East Grove Mansion. Yeah, right. In 1965 from the opium-addled coolie perspective, sure thing.
Behshad, or Kevin, was correctly guessed: Persian he said rather than Iranian. The slight French accent suggested a possible Algerian, but that was because of Behshad's French housemates possibly. Nice chap clearly from the outset, long-term tenant in the flat opposite doing a favour for the landlord across the way.
Crushingly neat interior: table setting, cutlery, napkins, dried flowers in the vase. Holy shit! The people here put on dark glasses for the crossing over the dirty discoloured paving outside their doors. Were there many such rundown places in East Coast? The whole stretch was reclaimed land, the fill from the leveling of the hills island-wide presumably. (Now under threat from climate change.) Beach, some kind of well-known promenade, bike-track, eateries and whatnot. Scruffy apartment blocks dotted between possibly.
Ten-fifty for a gap month between longer-term, contracted tenants, utilities add-on fifty or so. Behshad was happy to share his own wifi until good M1 was installed shortly. Two bathrooms for four rooms, one French guy and one American guitar player (only until 10pm Behshad assured). Nice chaps carefully screened from the outset, Behshad assured. Non-smoking but drinking was fine, laughed Behshad, assuming Australian habits.
Fifteen odd minutes’ walk to Geylang Serai, with better cut-throughs likely. A variety of buses outside. (In case the point has not been made, not enough of the positives here acknowledged: brilliant public transport. Buses, trains. Aeroplanes well-known.)
But the Caltex is the focus here. Walking up to the bus-stop. Empty, wide, clean drive-way, chap waiting at the bowser. Dark-faced pump-jockey under a red cap that matched his polo, black trousers. Long swinging strides for killing boredom, peak aimed between his legs.
But hang-on, here comes a customer.
Training was successfully drummed into this man: on the car's entrance immediately alert and welcoming, both arms raised and like on a tarmac waving the vehicle safely forward.
Yes sir. Come along here now. Waving, waving.
Had this guy seen Bollywood films where the male lead jets back from a business trip to Paris—shocking error: both wife and mistress, unknown to each other, waiting to greet. On the tarmac smart chap in uniform waving the big silver bird that had just descended from the clouds to the gate. One point seven thousand billion rupees in his hands. The Merc was likewise worth plenty.
If the boss reviews CCTV nights he will be assured the worker has the correct kind of attitude. If the yard is miked this chap would be offering fine courtesy and respect. Too right.
In the front page report of a recent parliamentary speech that underlined the need for the city-state to adapt and develop to suit the new global circumstances, where uncertainty abounded, three points were highlighted: continuing vigilance on the corruption front was one and meritocracy another. Meritocracy to the max. Nothing but meritocracy. The speaker used the examples of creatures in the jungle developing sharper beaks, claws, carapace in the struggle for survival. As before, meritocracy a key to the future. Benefits on show island-wide.
No, it was the Caltex, just beyond Telok Kurau Road. SmartMart attached and tyres the other side. Over four and one half years not driving a short snort of righteous disgust: cars, petrol, highways, speed. On the walk back to a bus-stop a couple of cars outside the Servo honked Indian workers on the roadway. Road had been narrowed, chaps hauling tubing given warning BEEP BEEP BEEP to stand clear. Grrrh!
A selling point of the room was the "Expat location", for a prospective expat tenant just the thing. There was no con: cafes, bars, bakeries and the rest, one every fifty metres, no-one could complain. A working day there were no expats visible on the street, or only a couple. Hipster Chin girls, maids, old aunties and uncles.
Redeeming feature was an old, weathered and discoloured block belying the fancy title it bore: East Grove Mansion. Yeah, right. In 1965 from the opium-addled coolie perspective, sure thing.
Behshad, or Kevin, was correctly guessed: Persian he said rather than Iranian. The slight French accent suggested a possible Algerian, but that was because of Behshad's French housemates possibly. Nice chap clearly from the outset, long-term tenant in the flat opposite doing a favour for the landlord across the way.
Crushingly neat interior: table setting, cutlery, napkins, dried flowers in the vase. Holy shit! The people here put on dark glasses for the crossing over the dirty discoloured paving outside their doors. Were there many such rundown places in East Coast? The whole stretch was reclaimed land, the fill from the leveling of the hills island-wide presumably. (Now under threat from climate change.) Beach, some kind of well-known promenade, bike-track, eateries and whatnot. Scruffy apartment blocks dotted between possibly.
Ten-fifty for a gap month between longer-term, contracted tenants, utilities add-on fifty or so. Behshad was happy to share his own wifi until good M1 was installed shortly. Two bathrooms for four rooms, one French guy and one American guitar player (only until 10pm Behshad assured). Nice chaps carefully screened from the outset, Behshad assured. Non-smoking but drinking was fine, laughed Behshad, assuming Australian habits.
Fifteen odd minutes’ walk to Geylang Serai, with better cut-throughs likely. A variety of buses outside. (In case the point has not been made, not enough of the positives here acknowledged: brilliant public transport. Buses, trains. Aeroplanes well-known.)
But the Caltex is the focus here. Walking up to the bus-stop. Empty, wide, clean drive-way, chap waiting at the bowser. Dark-faced pump-jockey under a red cap that matched his polo, black trousers. Long swinging strides for killing boredom, peak aimed between his legs.
But hang-on, here comes a customer.
Training was successfully drummed into this man: on the car's entrance immediately alert and welcoming, both arms raised and like on a tarmac waving the vehicle safely forward.
Yes sir. Come along here now. Waving, waving.
Had this guy seen Bollywood films where the male lead jets back from a business trip to Paris—shocking error: both wife and mistress, unknown to each other, waiting to greet. On the tarmac smart chap in uniform waving the big silver bird that had just descended from the clouds to the gate. One point seven thousand billion rupees in his hands. The Merc was likewise worth plenty.
If the boss reviews CCTV nights he will be assured the worker has the correct kind of attitude. If the yard is miked this chap would be offering fine courtesy and respect. Too right.
In the front page report of a recent parliamentary speech that underlined the need for the city-state to adapt and develop to suit the new global circumstances, where uncertainty abounded, three points were highlighted: continuing vigilance on the corruption front was one and meritocracy another. Meritocracy to the max. Nothing but meritocracy. The speaker used the examples of creatures in the jungle developing sharper beaks, claws, carapace in the struggle for survival. As before, meritocracy a key to the future. Benefits on show island-wide.
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